The Great Collide
by Blaire023
Summary: Chloe Sullivan wakes up in District 12 just in time for the reaping.
1. Prologue

Fic: The Great Collide  
Author: Angela_StJoan/Blaire023  
Rated: T  
Pairing: Chloe Sullivan/Peeta Mellark  
Verse: Smallville(post season 10)/Hunger Games(spoilers for all 3 books)  
Summary: Chloe Sullivan wakes up in District 12 just in time for the reaping. "_She needed to protect him. And as she lay there, curled into him and listening to his breath even out under her cheek, she vowed she would do whatever it took to get them both back home._"

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Dear Reader,  
If you follow my other stories you'll notice Brought To You By has not been updated...because of THIS monstrosity that invaded my brain and has kept me glued to Word writing and writing and writing. Now, I love a good Peeniss fic as much as the next fangirl/boy BUT I recently reread CF & MJ and I needed to do this. If Katniss could go back in time and save Prim would she give up Peeta and being the face of the rebellion and that whole chain of events? I'm inclined to believe yes. Yes, she would. And so she does. Ta da!

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**Prologue**

**Outside of District 12  
**

Katniss, half of her body covered in scaly patches of scarred flesh, stares unblinkingly at the crone in front of her. "You said I could bring Prim back?"

Dessa grins at the young woman before her. The Mockingjay. "You can." She takes a rock, engraved with the Mockingjay symbol on it, and presses it into Katniss's hand. "You have to be willing to give up everything. But you can go back to that moment in time and change the outcome."

"And Prim will live?"

Dessa, who had been living in District 13 since the rebellion, had chosen to come back to 12 to be with her sister, Greasy Sae, after the assassination of Coin. "As long as you believe in the magic, Prim will live."

Katniss stares down at the rough stone and rubs her thumb over the top of it. She would be giving up everything they had worked for to become free. A tear gathers in the corner of her eye on the side of her face that was still partially numb. It rolls down her slightly sagging cheek and to the curve of her chin. If it would bring Prim back, it was worth it. "What do I have to do?"

"Sweet child, all you have to do is go to this place in the woods," Katniss studies the roughly drawn map. It is a 3 day hike if she were looking at it correctly. She would go home and pack and head out in the morning.

"I can do that." She folds the map and sticks it in her pocket and then looks at the old crone once more. "What else? What magic?"

"You place that rock right where that map says and you say those words that are written on the back of the paper." She pats Katniss on the hand. "That's all, dear."

"That's it?"

"This rune will take us back to a few days before the reaping when Primrose's name was chosen." Katniss nods to show she is listening, "The person who picks up this stone will take Prim's place instead of you volunteering. On the day of the reaping you need to be sure to not show up. You go into those woods and you lie and tell everyone you couldn't make it back in time." The look on Katniss' face makes Dessa reassure her. "I know it sounds like a cowardly thing to do, but it has to happen just like that."

"And there will be no Mockingjay." Katniss said, all the pieces coming together in her head. She thought about another pawn though, "What about Peeta?"

"I can't tell you about him, dear. Just Primrose." Dessa nods her head at the stone in the young woman's hand, "You do what I've told you to and Prim will be just fine."

Katniss closes her eyes for a moment, preparing to let Peeta go. It's for Prim. And she would do anything for Prim.

**Somewhere in NY**

Chloe frowns as she turns the smooth stone in her hands this way and that. There's a symbol etched on one side but it's very worn and she isn't sure what it is and she isn't sure if it's human. It might be Kandorian, but she's studied Clark's cave relics long enough to be fairly positive that this isn't the same. She can't be a hundred percent sure without doing more research so she slips the rune-like rock into the pocket of her suit jacket and she turns to look around her once more.

Chloe studies the rolling hills and the dipping plains laid out before her. This was where the new Justice League training facility would be built in upstate New York. As a prospective buyer on behalf of her team she had flown out here from Metropolis to survey the land and upon taking less than a dozen steps on the property she had stubbed a pointed toe of her pump against the hard stone in the ground. Chloe had immediately reached down and unwedged it from the earth to brush off the encrusted dirt and get a look at the etchings. The rock was about the size of her palm and couldn't weigh more than a few ounces.

She patted her pocket and headed back to her car, picking her way across the stone-laden ground in her heels. She fired up her bluetooth and was immediately connected to Oliver.

"What do you think?"

Chloe started the car and shrugged, "It's a little uneven, probably have to level it out a little but otherwise, it's not bad. It's the best prospect we've had so far."

"Secluded?"

She smiled and looked around the tree lined highway. "Not a coffee shop for miles." She could practically hear Ollie thinking so she said, "We should make a deal on it."

Oliver shuffled some papers around and then tapped them together on his desk. "I trust you. I'll get in contact with the realtor."

They said their goodbye's and hung up. Chloe drove the rest of the way to her hotel room. She'd have to sign a few papers before she left and she'd like to take an afternoon to just enjoy being away from Watchtower.

It wasn't long before papers were signed and the JL were proud owners of a parcel of land. She was walking down the nearly empty streets of the town she was visiting, smiling because she had been a part of their newest acquisition. Her hand rested against her pocket, the warmth of the light rock seeping through the material of her jacket and into her palm.

Chloe turned at what sounded like a cannon blast and ducked. She stood back up slowly, hand pressed to her thundering heart. Her breath came in shallow pants and she looked all around for the source of the noise. As something flashed in the sky she turned her face up and barely made out the picture of a young white girl, her hair impossibly red against the light blue of the midafternoon sky. "What the hell?" Chloe narrowed her eyes as the picture faded and turned around slowly, taking in the rooftops of the shops all around her. It had been some kind of projection, but she had never seen anything like it.

Chloe ventured a look to the other people walking along the sidewalks. None of them had stopped to look. None of them had heard the cannon blast. Was she hallucinating?

Peeta came to a stumbling halt and stared up at the sky as the cannon blasted. "Please don't let it be Katniss." His words were barely a whisper. As the girl from District 4 flashed against the sky he let out a stuttering breath and continued to move. He wasn't the most lithe and he most definitely wasn't the most stealth-like. No matter how hard he tried to step quietly he almost always sounded like he was crashing through the forest.

Chloe heard the rustle of wind and the smell of greenery blow past her, felt a hand brush against the arm of her coat. She turned at the sound of a sharp exhale right behind her and jumped as she heard a whispered name, "Katniss."

Her breath stuck in her throat but she managed to barely speak up and say, "Who's there?"

Peeta drew up short and turned his head this way and that. Had he really just heard a disembodied voice? They were in the arena after all so maybe it was just another trick. Probably a speaker hidden in one of the tall trees around him. Maybe a trained mockingjay looking down at him. His eyes were slanted against the sunlight as he looked around carefully though. He wanted so badly to answer the scared voice but unless someone was even better at painting themselves invisible than he was, he was pretty sure he was alone. Couldn't hurt though. "I'm Peeta. Who are you?"

Chloe jerked her body away from the spot that had grown cold at the mouth of the alley. She turned to where the voice had practically whispered in her ear. Her eyes filled with tears and her body shook as she looked at the brick walls on either side of her. Was she dealing with a spirit? And why did the boy whose name was Peeta make her heart tighten in her chest. She answered even though she was shaking and even though she thought she might be going crazy. "I'm Chloe."

Peeta stood absolutely still as his right arm went numb with cold. "Chloe?"

Chloe laughed and then covered her mouth with her hands to stifle the sharp sound. She backed up until she was pressed against the brick side of the alleyway, a dumpster just to her left. "Yes. And you're Peeta?"

Peeta's eyes darted around him and he huffed out a noise. "I don't have time for this." And with that thought echoing through his mind and out of his mouth he turned and ran through the woods toward the stream.

Chloe slumped against the wall at her back as the breeze blew past her. She could still hear the crunching of leaves beneath boots. She could still smell the pine and moss and air of forest. Most of all, she could still hear the masculine voice, gruff and impatient saying he didn't have time for whatever was going on before she felt his absence. She felt him leave her.

And all she really wanted was to call him back and hold him to her.

TBC?

(This is where you let me know if you're interested in reading any more of it.)


	2. The Reaping: Part 1 of 2

Thank you to **Zydeko** for the lovely review and the begging of course. :)**  
**

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**The Reaping 1/2**

**Metropolis**

Chloe shifted under her comforter, the rune tucked into the nightstand drawer beside her bed. She had gotten home late tonight and after her quick trip to New York and the restless night she had had there, she was glad to be between her own sheets. Thoughts of what happened in the alleyway with the invisible Peeta were far from her mind as she dreamt about smells and sights of a bustling city. She could smell the tar on the roads and the humidity in the air. The people around her were dressed in elaborate costumes, people rivaling those that may have just stepped off a runway. Bodies brushed against her but she didn't feel them.

A man strolled by, a poodle walking along beside him. Chloe smiled at the absurdity of it, the man's goatee dyed the same unnatural shade of hot pink as his four legged companion. She turned to look up at one of the large screens hanging above the busy city streets and an older gentleman was talking. The scrolling newsfeed beneath him announced that he was President Snow and that he was discussing some up and coming game with a blue haired interviewer, Caesar something.

Chloe tilted her head and shielded her eyes against the sudden glare of sunlight, watching as a large flying craft went overhead. She turned her head to follow it with her eyes and jerked awake in bed.

Chloe sat up and looked around her room. She could still hear the voice from the man on the tv screen saying, "Of course, only one can survive."

**District 12**

Peeta stared up at the ceiling above him. Lying in bed awake was a rarity and he knew he was only being granted this one morning to do so because the reaping was in a few short days. He may have 3 brothers, but the youngest had turned 19 just a few weeks ago and he would have no one to volunteer for him if his name was chosen, not that he would ever ask that.

He didn't have any better or worse of a chance than anyone else to get chosen. He knew people whose names were in it once and people whose names were in it dozens of times. That never seemed to matter. Nightmares plagued everyone around this time of year with the reaping looming over their heads.

He thought of his friends. He knew of a handful of teens from District 12 that could probably win the Games and make it look easy. He also knew that if it came down to it he could kill if it meant living. Probably.

He wasn't so sure he was that resourceful though. He could bake and he could paint. He doubted either of those talents would matter much in the arena. He'd never heard of the games taking place in a bake off before. Peeta rolled his eyes and put his hands behind his head on the pillow. He thought about the nightmares over the past few days.

The night before last he had dreamt that he and Katniss had been chosen for the Games and he was running through a forest looking for her. He had instead happened upon a ghost of a girl, Chloe. His skin tightened as he clearly recalled her frightened voice calling out to him. He had wanted to stay and assure her that everything would be fine but the need for him to find Katniss had won out and he had rudely ran away from the shaky voice.

Tonight he had dreamed of the Capitol and it's amazing sights and sounds. He had watched an interview of Caesar Flickerman and President Snow and had wanted to vomit. When a hovercraft had happened overhead he had turned and ran, but as he stepped away from that spot on the sidewalk he had felt half of him being left behind. He had turned his head to look back at where he'd been and he'd seen a blonde girl staring up at the sky, a short tank top and loose cotton pants were all that covered her. His eyes had roamed over her as she shielded her eyes with a hand, causing the skin at her stomach to flash at him and then he started back to her and she was gone.

He had jerked awake at the loss of her and for a second he wanted to call her Chloe.

**Metropolis**

Chloe went about her day, ignoring the fact that her chest ached with every breath she took and her head pounded out a slow tempo. She sat behind her console at Watchtower and massaged the back of her neck with one hand. She was currently studying a few different sets of blueprints for the training center. Oliver had decided on a few out of a dozen and had asked her to narrow it down for him. Easier said than done in her current frame of mind. All she wanted was to go back to bed but sleep somehow kept escaping her. It had been two days since she had been able to get a few minutes of shut eye. She would lay down and then toss and turn until she couldn't stand her own skin anymore. Then she would run on her treadmill until her legs couldn't take her any further.

She still wouldn't be able to sleep, but at least her body would enter an almost numbness that made laying between the cool sheets easier to bear.

Her inner musings about window placement were interrupted as Clark stepped off the elevator. He tossed the rock up in the air and caught it as he walked over to her.

"It's not Kryptonian."

Chloe sighed and looked up at her friend, "Do you have any leads at all?"

Clark shook his head and put the rock down on the desk in front of her. "None. I did a little research on ruins in human history too and didn't find anything."

Chloe pushed the stone around with her finger. "Well, maybe Ollie needs a new paperweight." She picked it up and plunked it down on top of the blueprints and leaned her chin on her fist. "Thanks anyway, for checking it out."

Clark leaned a hip against her desk and looked down at Chloe with worry. "No problem. Hey, everything okay with you?"

Chloe nodded and looked up at Clark, "Yeah. Just some rough nights. Nothing I won't get passed."

Clark shook her shoulder gently and shot her a boyish grin, "Okay. If you need anything, you know how to get a hold of me."

Chloe smiled back and put her hand over his, "Thanks, Clark."

And then he was up and leaving her to stare at the stupid rock sitting on her desk. The longer she stared at it the heavier her eyes became until finally she couldn't fight it anymore and her sleepless nights overpowered her.

**District 12**

Chloe woke up to someone nudging her in the side. She looked up to see the small, angry face of a little girl staring down at her. "What are you doing? Get up before someone sees you!"

Chloe sat up and looked around her at the washed out colors and stone buildings. "Where am I?"

A pair of blonde brows rose and fell. "Aren't you a little young to be drinking?"

"Drinking?" Chloe slowly pushed herself up and stood on heavy legs. "But I haven't been…"

Prim looked at the strange girl with the colorful clothes. She had on some sort of bright purple tunic and tan pants with tiny ribs. "Unless you have suffered some sort of memory loss, I don't know how you couldn't know where you are."

"Well, what do we have here?"

Prim clutched the blonde's arm in her hands and steadied her, then shot a nervous smile at a peacekeeper. "My cousin. She hit her head on some rocks by the mine."

Chloe looked up at the storm trooper and giggled. "Is this Alderaan?"

The guy dressed in all white frowned down at the two girls. "What is her name?"

Prim cleared her throat. Chloe spoke before the little girl could, "Chloe Sullivan. Why? Are you taking me to your leader?"

The peacekeeper shot the mouthy girl a glare and looked her over. His attention turned back to the younger girl, "Get her home. I don't want to see her over here again." He took Chloe's chin in his hand and waited until she met his eyes, "No begging, girl. Don't you know what we do to your kind?"

Then he laughed and let her go and turned and walked away.

Chloe rubbed at her chin and snarled, ready to put a little hand to hand combat to test. Oliver had taught her well and she wouldn't mind trying out a few debilitating moves on that asshole. Instead her hand was caught in a much smaller one and the little girl in the gray dress pulled her away in the opposite direction.

"My name is Prim. Primrose Everdeen. My mom is a healer. She can help you figure out what's wrong with your memory." Chloe took longer strides to help keep up with the girl's faster gait. "Where did you get those clothes?" She looked Chloe over and then smiled shyly, "Sorry. Sometimes I talk too much."

Chloe shook her head and smiled, "No, you're fine. Could you please tell me where we are though?"

"Oh. We're in District 12. I can tell you aren't from here. Your clothes look like you come from the Capitol but you don't talk like them. Are you from there?"

"There?" Chloe was still trying to figure out what the hell District 12 was. Was it a state? A country? If she had gotten sucked into another realm she was going to bang her head against something.

"The Capitol?"

Chloe stumbled up the steps to a stone house and looked around her at what must be the kitchen. "Uh, no. I'm from Metropolis."

The girl, Prim her name was, looked her over in confusion. "I don't understand. What's a Metropolis?"

Chloe laughed at that, "I was just about to ask you what a District 12 was." She moved around the kitchen and then took the seat that Prim offered her. "I'm not from D.C." At another confused look Chloe shrugged, "The capitol? D.C.?"

Prim shook her head slowly, "I've never heard of this D.C. either." She held up a hand, "Give me a second to hunt down my mom." Chloe watched her disappear and then pop her head back into the room, "Don't leave, okay?"

Chloe nodded and said, "Okay." Where was she supposed to go anyways? Chloe quickly stood up and checked her pockets. Sometimes she stuck her cellphone in one but not today. She sighed and sat back down. After a few minutes of looking around the kitchen another person barreled through the doorway only to come up short.

"Who are you?"

Chloe shrank back from the dark look being aimed at her. "Uh, Chloe."

"Chloe." Katniss studied the blonde in front of her. She'd put her around her own age and then she looked at the bedraggled state of her clothes and sighed. "You're one of Prim's strays?"

Chloe bit her lip, honestly afraid to answer. This chick was scary and she had seen plenty of scary in her life. "I guess so."

Katniss narrowed her eyes on the stranger and then called out, "Prim?", her eyes never wavering.

Prim came from the back of the house, her mom behind her. "Here she is, mom. Oh, hey, Katniss." Prim hugged her sister and Chloe watched the older girls features soften until she looked almost pretty.

"You can't keep saving things, Prim."

The little girl smiled at her sister and then stepped away and over to the ugliest excuse for a cat Chloe had ever seen. "I can as long as someone needs saving." Then she picked up the orange fur ball and hugged it to her.

After being given the once over by their mom she was declared fit. "You have no memory loss and you seem to be in good health. Where did you say you were from?"

Chloe cleared her throat and said, "I'm from Metropolis." When the older woman just looked at her in confusion Chloe thought for a moment and said, "Justice League? Green Arrow or Superman ring a bell?"

"Superman?" Prim looked up from her homework and stared at the blonde across from her. "Superman is real?"

Katniss walked through the kitchen, patting Prim on her arm on her way out, "Of course he isn't. He's just a legend, little duck." She ruffled her sister's hair and then placed a kiss on her head. "Don't stay up too late." And then she walked out the door only to lean against the stone siding of the house. It was happening. Katniss drew a deep breath and tried to steady her heartbeat. She needed to get to the Hob and talk to Greasy Sae.

Prim smiled after her sister and then leaned forward once she was gone. "So? Is he?"

Chloe smiled and leaned on her elbows, "I guess so. If you've heard of him then he must still be around."

"Did you know him?"

Chloe laughed and thought of Clark. "I've met him a few times. Is he your favorite superhero?"

Prim nodded and listened to Chloe rattle on about the human blur.

Chloe slept fitfully on a cotton blanket on the floor in the kitchen. After being told that there were no hotels in District 12 Chloe had moved to leave only to have Prim beg her to stay. After fixing some soup for them, to show her appreciation, Katniss had told her that while they didn't have any beds to spare, she could make her a pallet on the floor. Chloe had been more than willing to sleep on a blanket. She'd make it through the night and in the morning she'd try to find a way home.

Meanwhile Katniss laid awake for most of the night. The reaping would take place the next day and she was trying to come to terms with sacrificing Chloe to the games. Days ago she had woken up, screaming and kicking after having one of the longest and strangest dreams of her life. She had woken to Prim humming softly and telling her everything was okay. She had grabbed onto Prim and held her and couldn't believe that she was still alive.

And then she had started to sort out her dreams and had gone off to the Hob to talk to Sae about her sister in 13. Sae had been shocked, to say the least, but had declared Katniss sane and told her of Dessa's magic and that if it had felt real, it probably was. Over the next few nights she dreamed of volunteering as tribute in Prim's place. She had visions of kissing Peeta Mellark in a dank cave during the games. She remembered surviving the games only to be forced into the Quarter Quell and then her escape and becoming the Mockingjay.

Just last night she had dreamed of Peeta's hands around her throat, Prim being blown to bits, and her bow aimed at the rose in President Snow's lapel. She woke after dreaming of a long trek through the woods to a place on a crudely drawn map and a stone cupped tight in her hand with the Mockingjay symbol engraved shallowly on its surface.

All she knew was that in the other reality she volunteered to keep her sister out of harm's way only to watch her die a few short years later. Hopefully, Chloe would change that.


	3. The Reaping: Part 2 of 2

**The Reaping 2/2**

Morning came too soon for Chloe's taste and she sat at the table and watched Prim and her mother wander around like zombies. "Is everything okay?"

Prim's smile didn't quite reach her eyes. "Today is the reaping."

"The what?" To Chloe it sounded like some sort of Pagan holiday. "What's a reaping?"

Prim's mom started tearing up and left the room.

"It's a drawing. A lottery, kind of."

"I'm guessing you don't win anything good." Chloe studied the young girl as she moved around and couldn't keep still for very long.

Prim smiled at that, her eyes searching Chloe's. "No. I guess you could say that you're more likely not to win."

Chloe pulled out a seat for Prim and motioned her into it. "Okay. So tell me what it is."

Prim explained as best she could.

Chloe sat motionless and listened in horror as the small child across from her told her this was her first year. Prim was 12 years old. Chloe, in modern day, would be too old in her early twenties to be included. Prim told her about the tributes and the arena. The volunteers that had to be between the ages of 12 and 18 and had to be related. The Hunger Games they were called. Chloe choked down her own bile at the thought of tiny Prim having to fight to the death. She shook her head and blinked the tears out of her eyes. "Katniss would never let you go. She'd volunteer in your place."

Prim nodded, "I know."

Chloe held onto Prim's hand and sat in silence with her. In a couple of hours the reaping would begin. Katniss had gone out hunting and Chloe was sure that she would be back before it started.

2 o'clock was fast approaching and Chloe paced as well as Prim. "She'll be here."

Prim nodded and then shook her head. "There are peacekeepers all around because of the reaping. What if she couldn't get back through the fence? What if she was caught?"

Chloe stopped and stared at her, "Do you want me to go look for her?"

Prim nodded and then shook her head again, "No. No, I want you to stay with me."

Chloe looked from Prim to her mom. "Would they tell you if she was caught?"

The older woman nodded in relief at the suggestion, "Yes, of course. They'd send word."

Chloe blew out a breath and smiled, "Okay, see. She's fine." They heard the bells toll and Chloe's hand was squeezed tight by Prim's. "Come on. Let's head out."

Prim swallowed and nodded and walked between Chloe and her mother. She was worried about Katniss but she also knew her sister could take care of herself. As she spotted Gale in the crowd, Prim pulled them over to him. "Gale!"

The tall brunette looked over at Prim and her mom as well as a small blonde standing to the side. "Hey, there." He squatted down so he was more evenly matched height-wise with the youngest Everdeen. "Are you okay, kiddo?"

Prim nodded and Chloe spoke for her when neither of her companion's seemed to be able to voice the question out loud, "You're Gale?" Gale stood and nodded down at the blonde in what seemed to be a dress he'd seen Mrs. Everdeen wear once before. "I am."

"Was Katniss with you this morning?"

Gale looked around, noticing that Katniss hadn't yet shown up. "She was. Why? Where is she?"

Chloe shook her head and looked around as well. "We don't know. She didn't make it back home."

The group they stood in started to separate, boys to one side and girls to the other, "She was fine when I left her."

Chloe nodded gratefully and put an arm around Prim as she started to shake. "It's okay. She'll be along soon, I'm sure."

Prim squared her shoulders and took strength from Chloe as she rubbed her arm. "I have to go to that other line." She nodded toward a group of girls her own age. Chloe watched her carefully and got swept away with the line she was in, startled when she looked down as a woman grabbed her hand and pricked her finger.

"No." Chloe pulled her hand back before they could place her finger against the paper on the table in front of her. Then she thought about it. If Prim was chosen and Katniss didn't show up, who would volunteer for her? Chloe's heart tightened and she willingly pressed her finger to the paper, smearing a drop of blood. The electronic device that read her blood type listed her as unknown and she was shuffled off to fill out paperwork as a new enlister. She made up a bunch of information and signed her name and then she was standing in a group of 18 year old girls, even though she had them by a few years. She looked across the way to Gale who stared at her for a moment, his brows drawing down over his brown eyes. Then she broke eye contact and looked off towards the front, trying to find the back of Prim's head in the sea of children.

She picked out a few she thought could potentially be her but then she spotted the intricate braid her mother had woven into her hair and kept her eyes focused straight on her in case she happened to disappear again.

A video was shown and a woman, Effie Trinket, was standing at the podium in a fuchsia dress and pale pink hair and she was saying, "Ladies first," in her tinkling voice.

Her hand swished around the bowl and plucked out a precisely folded piece of paper. "Primrose Everdeen."

Chloe's heart stopped in her chest. Her body went numb and her brain blanked out totally. She watched in absolute horror, her lungs refusing to work, as the intricate braid she had focused so completely on turned to the side and started out of the sea of heads. Chloe screamed inside her head and forced her feet to move in time with the braid she kept an eye on. Chloe broke out of the group of girls and ran forward only to be grabbed by the peacekeepers. "No! Prim!" Prim looked back at her, her eyes swimming in tears and Chloe screamed the only thing she could think of as the men in white tried to drag her back, "I volunteer!" Her voice had cracked on that last word so she stopped struggling and said in a louder and much clearer voice full of conviction, "I volunteer as tribute!"

The hands holding her back released her and she ran full force to the little girl. She caught her in a hug and held her close, afraid she might die if she let her go. "Prim."

"Chloe!" The name hiccupped out of the girl as Gale swooped in and grabbed her up. "Chloe!"

"It's okay, Prim. Go find your mom." She watched as Gale dragged the younger girl away and then faced front to march up the makeshift stage. She briefly caught a glimpse of herself on the huge screens, all blonde hair and huge green tear-filled eyes. She imagined Prim walking up these stairs to her death and felt the heaviness of what she was doing. And she knew she would volunteer again in a heartbeat. Thankfully she had filled out her paperwork with her name Chloe Everdeen so when she was asked if she was Prim's sister she just nodded. When she was asked her name she looked out at the sea of faces and lied and said, "Chloe Everdeen."

The woman beside her said, "Well, our first volunteer from District 12. Chloe Everdeen." And then she started clapping and Chloe's gaze wandered around the group in front of her until she sought out Prim, wrapped in her mother's embrace off to the side. She belatedly realized that everyone in the crowd was kissing their fingers and lifting them up to her. Chloe, moved by the salute, even though she didn't know what it meant, felt tears spring to her eyes. Then the woman with the cotton candy hair was clearing her throat and moving to another huge fishbowl. The name she read off for the boys tribute couldn't have surprised Chloe any more than she already was.

"Peeta Mellark."

Chloe locked her knees in place to keep from collapsing. The boy from the alley was here? He wasn't a spirit? Her eyes frantically searched the side the boys were on and she locked onto a blonde hair blue eyed boy.

"Peeta Mellark."

Peeta broke eye contact with the blond on the stage, Chloe Everdeen, and he moved through the boys that were gathered around him until he was standing in the empty aisle with the peacekeepers. He moved forward steadily, swallowing down any protests he had. He wanted to yell that it wasn't fair, but he couldn't. Chloe, the girl from his dreams, had stepped forward to take Prim's place as tribute. He wasn't sure why Katniss didn't but he knew that no matter how unfair it was for him to be in this position, it was even more so for the girl staring down at him in shock. Peeta walked up the steps of the stage and shook hands with the girl who still looked him over in stunned silence. The moment his palm touched hers he felt his stomach tingle and his heart speed up. He watched her eyes narrow on him and a flush color her cheeks and knew she felt the same reaction. Then they were being announced as the tributes from District 12 and they were being escorted into the building behind them.

Chloe was shuffled off away from Peeta into a room with a small table and few chairs. The doors were closed and guarded and she leaned her head into her hands. What the hell was happening? She sincerely hoped this was all just one really bad dream.

The door to her room opened and Katniss entered followed by her mom and Prim. Prim immediately grabbed Chloe and hugged her tight. "I'm sorry. You shouldn't have done that!"

Chloe pulled back and smiled down at the girl she had volunteered for, "No regrets, Prim. If we went back to that very moment I would take your place all over again." She kissed the girl's forehead and looked up at Katniss.

She shook her head and pressed a closed, shaking fist to her mouth. "I'm so sorry. I got trapped on the other side of the fence and had to wait for the guards to make their rounds." She let the tears fall from her eyes and roll freely down her cheeks, "I didn't know."

Chloe smiled and shook her head, "I believe you." She watched the warrior deflate before her eyes and wrap her arms around her stomach. She seemed to shiver from the inside out. "Just please, for Prim's sake, be more careful."

Katniss nodded and then stepped forward to hug the stranger tightly. She whispered in her ear, "Thank you. Thank you."

Chloe nodded and stepped back as a guard in all white opened the door. Prim's mom placed something metal in her hand as she hugged her next. "You saved both of my girls. I owe you everything." Then she placed a kiss against the blonde's cheek and stepped away, all three of her pretend family being led out by the peacekeepers.

She looked down at her hand at the pin with the bird in mid-flight with a circle stamped around it. Chloe shrugged, unsure what the symbolism was, and then tucked the medallion inside her bra for safekeeping.

Chloe stood where she was and shifted from foot to foot. She thought about opening the door in front of her and just couldn't do it. She wasn't afraid of what was on the other side. She was afraid for Prim. Afraid that if she disobeyed they would punish the little girl, the original tribute. Chloe stepped back just as the door was pushed open and then Gale was there, looking in at her. He shut the door at his back and narrowed his eyes at her.

"Who are you really?"

Chloe laughed hysterically and held up her hands. "Chloe. My name is Chloe Sullivan. I think I fell asleep in Metropolis and I woke up outside of a butcher shop in District 12." Chloe searched Gale's eyes with her own. He reminded her of Clark. That was why she had just blurted that out. "Crazy, right?"

Gale shook his head. "No. I believe you." The door opened and he grabbed her hand, "Survive. Okay? Survive and I'll find a way for you to get back home."

Chloe choked on her tears and nodded, "I'll try!"

And then the door was shut and she was alone all over again.


	4. The Train Ride

**The Train Ride**

Chloe sat on the other side of the colorful woman with Peeta just an arm's length away. She wanted desperately to nudge the woman between them out of the way and ask her counterpart what the hell was going on. She knew that he had recognized her and she had questions she needed answered. The woman between them talked on and Chloe did her best to listen carefully but she still didn't understand a lot of it. What was the chariot ride for and why did they have to be presented to the Capitol? And what the hell was the Capitol? Prim had thought that Chloe was from there but the more she learned about the place the more affronted she was.

24 tributes fought to the death inside an arena. That was the Hunger Games. There were rewards like food for a year and a pretty house to live in but that wasn't the point. Chloe doubted anyone who was chosen as a tribute kept their eye on the prize of living in Victor's Village. Who gave a crap about a fancy house when you had to kill a bunch of innocent people to get it? Chloe just couldn't imagine anyone that could get excited over that.

The car came to a stop and they were loaded onto a train. Chloe followed Peeta into a train car with couches. She sat on the other end of the one he chose, her eyes never leaving him. She waited until Effie went to fetch their mentor and then said, "Okay, who are you?"

Peeta was talking at the same time, "Chloe?"

Chloe nodded and scooted closer. "Yes! You're Peeta. From the alley."

"Alley? What alley?"

"In New York. The spirit in the alley."

Peeta leaned towards her and shook his head, "No. You're from my dream. First I was in the forest looking for Katniss and you were whispering at me through the trees. Then I was standing on a sidewalk in the Capitol."

Chloe looked thoughtful but not away from him. She was half afraid if she looked away he would disappear. "I remember standing on a sidewalk. Watching an interview of President Snow."

Peeta nodded and grabbed one of her hands with his. "Yes!" Then he squeezed her hand quickly and little creases appeared on his forehead. "Did you say New York?"

Chloe smiled widely and nodded. "Yes." She sighed in relief and laughed a little. "You've heard of it?"

Peeta thought back to history classes and what they'd learned from before the Great War, which wasn't much. "Yeah. But New York isn't really around anymore. Not since the Great War"

Chloe's smile turned into a faltering tilt of her lips as she pulled her hand from his and questioned, "Well, where is it?"

They were interrupted as an older gentleman came into the train car and they watched him hunt down a drink. "You must be my tributes."

Peeta sat up a little straighter, "Haymitch?"

He held up a finger and made a little check mark on the air, "That would be correct." He lifted a lid off a bucket on the table that held drinks. "Where's the ice?"

Chloe looked at the older guy and shrugged, "I don't know."

Peeta shook his head, "Me neither."

Haymitch sighed and plopped the lid down. "Well then." He grabbed a bottle of liquor as well as his glass and sat down across from the duo. "Let me give you a little advice." He raised his glass, sloshing the liquid about. "Prepare yourself for your doom. It is highly unlikely either of you will survive."

Peeta glanced over at Chloe and then back at Haymitch, "Maybe you should cool it on the drink." He reached forward to take the glass away and had his hand smacked in return. Peeta glared at the older man and grabbed the bottle of liquor instead. Haymitch just rolled his eyes and stood up, "I'm taking this to my room."

They watched him go in silence and then Peeta stood up after him, "I'm going to go talk to him."

Chloe stood up, suddenly afraid of being alone. "Don't just leave me here. I have no idea what's going on!"

Peeta turned back to her, "You said you were in New York?"

Chloe nodded, "Yes, but I'm from Metropolis."

"New York hasn't existed as a state in more than a hundred years. What year are you from?"

Chloe stared at him in panic. "What? Oh, 2012."

Peeta looked her over carefully. "The year 2012?"

Chloe nodded and reached a hand out to him to steady herself. "What year was the Great War?"

"2014."

Chloe blinked tears away. "Are you-are you sure?"

Peeta pulled her to him and held her against him, "I'm sure. Are you going to be okay?"

Chloe shook her head and clutched his shirt with both hands, "No. Probably not."

Peeta rocked her in his arms until her body relaxed and the shaking had subsided. Then she asked softly, "What year is it now?"

"74."

"As in 2074?"

Peeta shook his head slowly, "No. As in 74 ADD."

Chloe moaned and clutched him to her tighter, "Pinch me. Please. I just need to wake up."

Peeta tucked her into his side and walked her through the doors to the next train car. He eventually found his private room and led her inside. "Right now what you really need to do is focus and survive." He turned her toward him and looked her squarely in the eyes, "We're going to win this, Chloe."

Chloe let out a quick breath and dragged another in. She held it for a moment and then slowly released it, her eyes held by his blue ones, calming and drugging. "Okay."

Peeta smiled and set her on the couch. He turned the TV on and gave her the remote. "These are videos of past games. You need to watch them and study them and we need to come up with a plan to win."

Chloe gripped the remote tightly and nodded, not taking her eyes from him quite yet. "But I thought there could only be one victor."

Peeta smiled and turned to leave, "That's what I'm going to see Haymitch about."

Chloe watched him walk out of the room and waited for the door to shut seamlessly behind him before focusing on the blood bath on the screen. She watched a young boy get bludgeoned to death and pulled her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around them. What had she gotten herself into?

**Back in 12**

"She said she isn't from here."

Katniss looked from Gale to Prim to her mom. "What district was she from then?"

"She said she was from Metropolis."

Katniss mouthed the word silently. "I've never heard of it."

"Me neither." Gale said and moved around the Everdeen's kitchen. "The least we could do is ask around."

Prim piped up then, "She said she knew Superman." At Katniss's soft smile Prim held up a hand, "I know it sounds crazy. But what if it isn't? All of the lore of Superman says that he was from Metropolis but he disappeared trying to save New York."

Katniss looked over at Gale. "As in the Great War?"

Gale nodded towards the door. Katniss kissed her sister on the head, "We're going to go check something out, okay?"

Prim nodded and watched the two disappear out the door and into the night.

**On the train**

"What would our best bet be of having two survivors?"

Haymitch looked up at the young boy with bleary eyes. "You can't have two. Only one of you is making it out of there alive. And I doubt even that."

Peeta sat down across from his mentor and rested his elbows on his knees. "But could there be two?"

Haymitch narrowed his eyes and put his drink aside, "You have a plan?"

Peeta nodded and relayed his idea to the older man.

Chloe watched children kill other children until she felt sick and her skin crawled. Her eyes got heavier as the cabin got darker and eventually she fell asleep, listening to the excited drone of Caesar Flickerman as he relived the games for the audience on a constant loop.

Chloe woke up to being carried and laid out on a bunk set into the wall. She grabbed at the hands that pulled a blanket up over her. "Don't leave me."

Peeta brushed her hair back from her face and smiled down at her, "Do you feel that? When we touch."

Chloe's eyes shut and she murmured as she fell asleep, "Just like I swallowed butterflies."

Peeta closed his eyes in relief as he knelt beside the bed. He was glad he wasn't the only one affected. Instead of climbing into bed with her as he'd like to do, he made up a bed for himself on the couch and settled in. Eventually he fell asleep to her slow and even breathing.

Chloe woke up the next morning to an empty cabin and stretched in the small bunk. She got up and found a closet full of clothes that probably fit Peeta. She changed into a pair of pajama pants that hung off her hips and a big t-shirt. She left her clothes folded on the bed and ventured out into the train car with all the food. She stared through the door as Haymitch, mostly sober, talked with Peeta. Their heads were bent together conspiratorially.

"Morning guys." She looked over at a perfectly coifed Effie and half waved at her, earning a disapproving eyebrow in return. She made a face at Peeta and sat down. "What's up with her?"

She reached across the table for a muffin and went absolutely still as Peeta brushed a lock of hair out of her face and tucked it behind her ear. The warmth that rushed south confused her and she pressed her legs together and dropped back into her seat. Her wide eyes met his and then she realized he was smiling broadly. "You did that on purpose."

Haymitch nodded with an amused look on his face, "The chemistry is palpable. It could definitely work."

Peeta caught Chloe's hand with his and placed a kiss on her knuckles. Chloe sucked in a breath and went still once again. Peeta kept a hold of her hand but continued his conversation with Haymitch. A few minutes later Chloe tuned in to what they were talking about and she pulled her hand from his. "What? Are you guys crazy?"

"Actually, it's pretty flawless. Pretend to be in love. The Capital will eat it up."

Chloe looked at Peeta and searched his face. "What about Katniss?"

Peeta's smile dropped and he shifted his eyes away from hers. "What about her?"

Chloe decided to move away from that subject and nibbled on her muffin, studying Peeta's profile. "I'm a lot older than you, ya know."

Peeta's eyes went back to her, "You can't be more than 18."

"23 actually."

Peeta looked over at Haymitch and then at Effie who wasn't paying them any attention. "You lied."

Chloe laughed without humor. "Which time? That my name is Everdeen or that I'm Prim's sister? That I'm a tribute from 12 that doesn't even live in 12 or my age?" Chloe looked at Peeta, "Pick one."

Haymitch digested this information, his sluggish brain already trying to find a way to bury it or fit it into a strategy. "You don't look older than 18." As Chloe looked away from Peeta to their mentor he went on, "Everyone thinks you're 18. And 16 is the legal age of consent in Panem. I don't know about where you're from. Also, in the Capital it's actually quite common for older women to snag themselves a younger man. Of course, they're kept."

Chloe looked back over at Peeta. "Still want to go along with your scheme?"

Peeta shook his head, "Your age doesn't change the fact that we have something." He rubbed a fingertip along her arm and they both shuddered. Peeta smiled, "I don't like you any less just because you're older." Chloe thought about the fact that he was only 16. Legal age of consent or not it was just a little bit gross. And then he smiled at her again and she decided that she might be able to live with it. After all, he was planning to save their lives. Maybe he was a mature 16. That might make him closer to 18 mentally. She groaned and covered her eyes when she realized she was trying to rationalize wanting to molest a teenager.

Haymitch, having followed her internal struggle, patted her on the hand. "You can think about that later. For now I need to know if you have any strengths. Fighting skills? Archery?"

Chloe nodded, "I can do that."

Her mentor glanced over at her as he buttered a roll, "Which one?"

Chloe looked from a stunned Peeta back to Haymitch, "Well, both." Thanks to Oliver but she wasn't going to think about him. Any thoughts about home and she'd probably lose what little food she'd managed to eat. "I'm trained in hand to hand, knife throwing, archery and sharp shooting."

Haymitch stopped in mid bite and looked her over, "Well you are a surprise, aren't you."

Peeta looked her over and then shook his head, "I can't do any of that."

Chloe squeezed his bicep and blushed when he raised his eyebrows at her. "You're strong."

"So I just flex my muscles and they all faint?"

Chloe laughed at the mental image. "Okay, no. But you carried me to bed last night like I was nothing."

Peeta shrugged and ignored the outraged gasp from Effie, "You don't weigh anything."

Chloe nodded, "Oh yes I do. I know exactly how much I weigh. You're strong, Peeta. Don't sell yourself short."

Haymitch clapped and looked between the two. "Keep that up and I'll believe you two are already a couple."

They entered a tunnel and Peeta got up from his seat. They came out of the darkness to a view of a dam and an entire city behind it. Chloe sighed and watched Peeta at the window.

"He is practically in love with you already."

Chloe looked over at Haymitch. "Why would you think that?"

He simply smiled and watched Peeta wave to the people of the capitol. "He told me. He said the moment he saw you in the crowd at the reaping he just knew. He told me about his childhood crush on Katniss. It's nothing compared to what he felt for you with just one look."

Chloe watched Peeta more carefully and studied his eager smile and the look of mirth he shot her over his shoulder before turning his attention back to the crowd gathered outside. "Do you honestly think this could work?"

Haymitch stood up and squeezed her shoulder, "I think it's the best shot you both have to make it out of there alive." And he went to join Peeta at the window, leaving her alone with her thoughts.

TBC


	5. Retirement of Fanfiction

Due to a sudden influx of negative feedback I will no longer post updates to this story on fanfiction.

Please see my profile here at fanfiction for more information.

**Dear Reader,**

**I am truly saddened to be forced into taking these precautionary steps. In the past month my inbox has been overwhelmed with nearly 100 PMs (all of which I have saved, just in case) ridiculing my fiction due to it's "inappropriate rating suggestion". I am sorry to say that I have given up the fight in this matter. I do have a real life with work and family, like much of you, and to have to endure this backlash simply because of a hobby does not interest me in the least. I have fought with ff since the beginning of June and since nothing has become of my complaints I see no other way to handle the situation than to extract myself from it. I hate the notion of punishing the many because of a few, however, I feel I have exhausted all other venues.**

**Please consider joining me at my public livejournal. You can find the information to it in my profile.**

**Thank you for your support throughout the years and your understanding in this matter.**

**~Angela aka Blaire023**


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